Politically-active affiliate gear up for annual debate

Despite the lack of political elections in South Dakota, one campus organization is ready to get in the spirit of an old-fashioned debate.

The Political Science League is holding its annual debate today in Farber Hall at 6:30 p.m.

The event will feature a realistically structured debate between the College Republicans and the College Democrats. The College Libertarians participated in last year’s debate, however they did not meet the requirements of a college political party in order to participate in this year’s debate.

PSL President Alayna Ackerman said the debate has become a tradition the PSL looks forward to every year.

“It’s always been something we do, especially since I’ve been here for the last three years,” said Ackerman. “And it’s always been in the October, November setting — similar to national debates.”

However, Ackerman said there is more to the event than just debating.

“Even though there are not many elections taking place, we still want to make sure we have this annually just because it’s really great to give those other political organizations on campus a voice,” she said.

Junior Sam Reuland, vice president of the College Republicans, said the annual event is a way to educate students.

“This is a great program on campus,” Reuland said.  “We try to bring in speakers so students can have an understanding of career futures.”

Reuland also said the PSL’s spring trip to the state capitol is a great event for anyone interested in government.

“We often take a trip up to Pierre in the spring and that’s a great way to see the capitol, meet officials, see how government works and it’s a great chance to network,” he said.

College Democrat Benedict Gombocz, a junior, said the PSL debate is a great way for people to become engaged with others and learn more about trending issues.

“At the meetings, we always have opportunities to be able to talk about politics,” said Gombocz. “We talk about anything from the NRA to minimum wage and how it affects the state.”

Ackerman said even though it is a friendly debate, it still remains serious and official.

“It’s a typical debate,” Ackerman said. “They have about three minutes for each side to answer and then there’s a little round robin where they can do some heckling and talking back and forth. It’s definitely the same kind of debate you would see on TV with actual politicians.”

Ackerman said there is a wide range of questions to show members’ knowledge of current events.

“You’ll definitely see a question about the natural winter weather disaster we just had and how that’s going to affect ranchers and what our political representatives can do for that,” Ackerman said. “We do some state and local concerns and also some questions that are looked at nationally.”

The PSL puts on many other events through the course of the year, Ackerman said.

“We meet bi-weekly in the MUC and talk about current trends locally and nationally,” Ackerman said. “Besides that, we put on different forums on campus, have speakers come in and talk about politics and we also have the International Film Festival where we play an international movie almost every week.”